Safety-lock for elevators.



S. M. MILLER.

SAFETY LOCK FOR ELEVATORS.

APPLICATION man JULY 24.1911

RENEWED MAY 8.1914.

Patented June 29, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

NvtNTol AULY THE N-.'HRIS ETERS 60.. PHOTO-LITHOY, WASHINGTON, D. C.

S. M. MILLER.

SAFETY LOCK FOR ELEVATORS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 24,1911.

RENEWED MAY 8,1914.

Patented J 11110 29, 1.915.

mmwwo 2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

50/0 BY X% THE NORRIS PETERS CO.. PHOTO'LITHQ, WASHINGTON, ov c ENTER TATE PATENT OFFICE.

SOLOMON M. MILLER, OF PEORIA, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, T0 ELEVATOR LOCKS GOM'PANY, OF PEORIA, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

SAFETY-LOCK FOR ELEVATORS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Original applicationfiled November 22, 1909, Serial No. 529,493. Divided and this application filed July 24, 1911, Serial No. 640,303.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SOLOMON M. MILLER, citizen of the United States, residing at Peoria, in the county of Peoria and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety-Locks for Elevators; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention pertains to a safety lock for an elevator door and relates more particularly to a locking-mechanism for the door adapted to be withdrawn from the door by the controller or starting device in the car to permit said door to be opened.

The primary object of the invention is to provide means by which the floor-door will always be locked except when the elevatorcar is stopped opposite it and to provide means in the car operated by the said controlling or starting device, as I shall term it, to automatically engage and operate the said mechanism for releasing the door by the same movement that stops the car.

Another object is to provide a member in control of the locking-mechanism the same being operated by a shiftable device on the car due to the movement of the said controller said device being brought into engagement with the member at the time the car is stopped, or in the act of stopping, opposite the door.

Another object is to provide a lockingmechanism for the floor-door and a device on the elevatorcar for engaging said mechanism at the will of the Operator when stopping at the door, said device when in its normal position passing the mechanism without meeting or touching it in the travel of the car.

In addition to these Objects the invention pertains to certain details of construction as will be pointed out herein aided by the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a plan of a portion of an elevator car and a portion of the building floor adjacent thereto. Fig. 2 is an elevation of a portion of the front wall of the car and certain operating parts. Fig. 3 is'an elevation of a part of the building floor and the floordoor and mechanism in control of the latter Renewed Mays, 19%. Serial No. 837,134.

mounted upon the said floor. Fig. 4 is a detail, in part section, of certain portions shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section of a casting containing a locking mem ber for the floor-door and parts to operate the same. Fig. 6 is an elevation of a portion of the interior of a car showing my invention, also the floor-door and a portion of the mechanism operated thereby. Fig. 7 shows, in perspective, a guiding member and part of a member shown in Fig. 6, and Fig. 8 is a plan of connecting parts for certain of the operating members.

A indicates the floor of the building and B the elevator-car while C and D indicate the floor-door and the door-track respectively. Mounted in any suitable manner upon the floor A preferably between the ele vator shaft and the track D is a standard E provided, for example, with two vertical extensions F, Fig. 3, through which a horizontally disposed slidable member G extends, the same having an adjustable member H thereon provided'with a roller J extending into the elevator shaft, said member H being secured in any desired position by means of a set screw K for example. Secured also upon the floor between the door and said standard is an upright member L having a head M provided on top with two vertical ears N between which is carried a rook-shaft O on which is secured an arm P. Fixed upon the projecting end of the shaft 0 lying nearest the door C is a fork Q in position to receive between its extensions a roller R carried by the said door. Upon the upper end of the arm P is pivoted a block S provided with a set screw T, there being a rod U carried at one end in said block and secured by said screw, the opposite end of the rod having pivotal connection with the slidable bar G before described. Slidably mounted in the upright member E is a member V which carries at its end most remote from the upright member L a roller W rotatable upon an adjustable supporting portion 2 secured in position on said member by means of screws 3, for example.

The head M of the member L is shown in Fig. 5, certain parts being included which constitute a locking means for the floordoor. A slidable locking-bolt 4 in the head is movable in a plane substantially at right angles to the plane of the door and is adapted to project beyond said head, one of its sides within the head being provided with teeth 5 with which the teeth 6 of a segmental-gear 7 engage, the latter being adapted for a rocking movement on its pivot through a slidable member 8 having what may be termed a tooth 9 at one side to engage a tooth 10 extending from the said segmental-gear. The member 8 has connection with the sliding member V of the upright E through a connecting link 11 the latter being preferably a loose connection in order to allow free action of the parts during operation. A compression spring 12 has control of the member V, being interposed between the standard E and said member, and assisted, if desired, by a spring 13 within the head M, the purpose of either of which is to hold. the locking-bolt 4 in the path of the door C, the member V, therefore, being held elastically in the direction of the door.

The parts first described herein 5. e. the fork Q. and the slidable member Gr form part of the subject matter of my former application Serial No. 529,493 filed Nov. 22, 1909, of which the present application is a divisional one, and are merely described herein in order to make the operation of the entire mechanism clearly understood.

In the elevator-car is any usual starting device in this instance represented by a lever 14. On the inner wall of the car adjacent the lever is secured a casting 15 provided with a vertically disposed recess 16 to receive and form a guide for a stem 17 of a T-shaped casting indicated as a whole by 18 said stem being slidable vertically in the said recess. Said nember 18 has at its top a substantially horizontal portion 19 having a horizontal upper surface and has an outwardly and downwardly extending portion 20 at each side of the stem 17 thus providing two top surfaces each at an angle to the horizontal one. The lever 14 has a projection to overhang or overlie the head thus created. In the present instance this projection is represented by a friction roller 21. The lower "end of the stem 17 has pivotal connection through suitable mechanism with a vertically disposed horizontally movable part which I shall term a striking-member indicated at 22. This is mounted on the car and extends into the elevator-shaft or opening between the car and the floor of the building. The preferred mechanism for carrying this striking member and for its movement through the stem 17 will now be described. Secured, for instance on the outside of the car, is a casting 23 which slidably carries a U-shaped member, for instance, indicated by 24 to which the striking member 22 is secured in any good manner, a compression spring 25 being interposed between the casting and a part of the member 24, the tendency of which is to move the striking member in the direction of the lever 14. Extending through a slot 26 in the wall of the car just behind the member 22 is an extension 27 rigidly secured in the latter and to whose inner end, as shown in Fig. 6, is connected a rod 28 whose other end is pivotally attached to one arm of a bell-crank 29 pivoted on the inner wall of the car adjacent to the lever 14. The other arm of the bell-crank is loosely connected with the lower end of the stem 17. g

In my former application referred to I have described certain mechanism in the car for locking the starting-lever 14 at its central or off position such mechanism forming part of the subject-matter of that application and as before I shall describe this herein also merely to make the entire operation clear. A rock-shaft 30 is mounted upon the floor of the car, for instance, and has a rocking portion 30 provided with a recess 31 therein opposite the lever 14 said shaft having an upwardly extending arm 32 whose free end is loosely attached to an adjustable connecting link 33 (Fig. 8) engaged by a lever-arm 34 secured on a vertically disposed rock-shaft 35 which carries, by means of arms 36 extending through the wall of the car, a striking member 37 hanging in the elevator-shaft. A spring 38 exerts its force upon the arm 36, for instance, in a direction to hold the part 30 of the rock-shaft free of the lever 14. When the car is at a landing the member 37 lies quite close to the roller J of the sliding member Gr before described, the striking member 22 likewise lying close to or engaging the roller W. Figs. 2 and 3 show by means of dotted lines the position of these tWo striking members relative to their respectiverollers or the position said members would occupy were the car stopped opposite the door. The dotted lines in said Fig. 2 indicate the position the lever 14 is placed to start the car and while the car is in motion. It is observed that if the said operating lever were pivoted at the point indicated at 14 for instance, in its move ment its roller 21 would move in an arc and it is to be observed further that the relation of the parts are such that when the lever is at its central or off position the roller will engage the part 19 and depress the member 18 whereas in the dotted line position of said lever the roller having been carried over upon or above one of the slant ing parts 20 permits said member 18 to rise due to the action of the spring 25 of the member 24. This upward movement of the member 18 is due to the steep inclination of the parts 20 which results in carrying the upper surfaces of said parts lower than the chord of the arc described by the roller21 so that when the latter moves outward from the central position the member 18 will be allowed to rise, the member 22 being thus moved away from the roller \V.

It has been stated herein that the spring 12 of the member V on the floor holds said member in the direction of the door in consequence of which the roller would lie in the path of the striking member 22, Figs. 2 and 3, if the lever 1% in the car were brought to its central or off position to depress the member 18 and move said striking member 22 to the position shown in full lines. lVhen the car is running the path of travel of said member 22 is not such as to cause said member to meet the roller W. This latter condition exists, of course, only at the time it is desired to stop the car. This will be made clear by the following: When the car is in full movement, with the floor-door closed, none of the parts on the car will interfere with those on the floor, that is to say, the member 22 will not meet the roller W nor will the member 37 meet the roller J but in throwing the lever 1st to the central position to stop the car opposite the door the member 22 will meet the roller W and thereby the member 8 will be drawn toward the standard E. In this action the tooth 9 of said member 8 moves the gear 7 on its pivot bymeeting the tooth 10 thereby drawing the lockingbolt l farther into the head M and out of the path of the door as indicated by broken lines in Fig. 5. The door is now free to be opened and as it moves its roller R will rock the fork Q and shift the sliding member Gr so that its roller J will meet the striking member 37 which through the rockshaft will turn the rock shaft 30 to a position where the lever 14 will be held in its central position. The said lever is now immovable so far as starting the car is concerned. When the door is closed however the pressure of the roller J is removed from the member 37 to release the operating lever which when thrown to one side permits the member 18 to rise the spring or its equivalent, withdrawing the member 22 upon the roller TV, the locking-bolt moving to its normal position behind the door through the spring 12 or 13 or both.

One of the advantages of my device is that the door-locking mechanism placed on the building-floor, and the shifting member on the car have movement parallel to each other and to the plane of the door. By this means I am enabled to impart an extent of movement to the said locking mechanism as wide as may be required, the roller also being given as much movement as desired. The roller 7 can be moved into the elevator-shaft as near the car as desired and the member 22 can also be placed at the desired position within the said shaft as close to the door as necessary.

Both of these parts therefore, can be readily placed in line so that one can meet the other. This is accomplished by extending the member which carries the roller into the shaft as far as desired also by a change in the length of the member 27 which carries the part 22 so that whether the space between the car and the floor is quite wide or very narrow the desired relation between these two parts may be had so that they may be made to perform their work. In some devices the parts move across the space between the car and floor or at right angles to the door instead of parallel to it and do not give as much latitude of movement as can be had by my structure. Further than this, I am enabled to adapt the device to a car wherein the operating lever may perhaps be located at some other place than at the side opposite the door. My structure gives an absolutely perfect operation with a very simple arrangement of parts and practically no more power is needed in shifting the locking mechanism than is required to stop the car. It is noted that each end of the striking member 22 has a surface receding from the edge which meets the roller W so that when said member is moved so as to meet said roller as the car approaches the floor from either direction, 0

the inclined surface permits such meeting without a direct blow. Said roller is adjustable upon the member V so that it may be stationed in the proper position for the proper engagement of the member 22 this adjustment being provided to meet varying conditions in installing the mechanism. As conditions vary considerably in elevator equipments it is readily evident that almost every safety device installed must have a different setting relative to the parts of the car or portions of the shaft in which the car travels. That is to say, since the standard E cannot be set in a certain given relation the parts on the car in every case because of physical conditions it is necessary to provide for the adjustment of the roller, along the part V to bring it into a position where it will best perform the service required of it. Therefore the adjustment is an important point. It must be clear that when. the door is closed it will be positively locked in position and impossible for a person to open the door when the operating parts are properly protected. 1t it equally impossible for the operator to open the door unless the car is opposite the same, or to start the car without first positively closing the door to release the starting-lever.

I shall refer to the operating-lever in the claims as the starting-device or starting lever and by the use of this term I mean any sort of device for the purpose whether a lever, wheel, electric-switch or other operating member.

The device is susceptible of slight changes, of course, as might be suggested by an ex perienced person or one having knowledge of such devices, these changes being such as would properly fall within the meaning of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In mechanism of the class described, the combination with an elevator car and a floor door, of mechanism for locking the door in its closed position including a part adapted to be moved into and out of the plane of the same, a part mounted on the floor adapted to move in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the door, an extension carried by and adjustable on said part also parallel to the plane of the door, means in the car including a part extending therefrom into the elevator shaft adapted to engage the said adjustable extension, and a starting device in the car including an extension brought into engagement manually with said means to manually and positively move the said part against the said adjustable extension.

2. In mechanism of the class described, the combination of the floor-door, a locking bolt normally lying in the path of the door, mechanism mounted upon the building-floor adapted to withdraw said locking bolt from the path of the door and out of the plane of the same including a part carried by and extending from said mechanism and adjustable parallel to the plane of the door, the

- elevator car and its starting device, a striking member on the car extending into the elevator-shaft its path of travel being spaced from the said part, and means interposed between the striking-member and the said starting device and manually operated due to the movement of the latter to shift said striking member into engagement with the said part.

3. The combination with an elevator-car, its starting device and the door of the ele vator-sliaft, of a member lying in the path of the door and movable in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the same, means in control of the member and movable substantially parallel to the plane of the door, means Within the elevator-car operated by the starting-device adapted to engage and move the first said means, and means elasand a part controlled by it movable perpendicularly to the plane of said door, an extension on the first said part projecting into the elevator-shaft, the elevator-car and its starting device, means carried by the car I including a vertically disposed part of some length within the elevator-shaft adapted to engage the extension, said part having an angular portion at its upper end and an angular portion at its lower end both receding from the surface that engages said extension in a direction substantially parallel to the plane of the door, said means also including a part to which motion is communicated by the starting device to move the said locking mechanism, and means constantly tending to prevent the said vertically disposed part from engaging the door-locking mechanism.

6. The combination with an elevator-car,

- and a floor-door, of a member lying normally in the path of the door, a second member mounted on the building floor operatively engaging the first, a projecting part adjustable on the second described member, a swingable starting device in the car including an extension spaced a fixed distance from its point of support, a member having a portion arranged to lie in the path of travel of the extension to be engaged and moved by it, said extension being manually moved against said member, and a part carried on the car operatively engaging the last named member and moved by it manually into the path of the projecting part of the said second member.

7. The combination with an elevator-car, and a floor-door, of mechanism lying normally in the path of the door to retain it in its closed position and including a part movable substantially parallel to said door, an extension on the part adjustable parallel to the plane of the door, means on the car movable substantially parallel to the door to engage and operate said mechanism, the normal path of travel of said means being spaced from the position of said extension, a swingable lever in the car including a projectin g portion thereon disposed a fixed dis tance from the point of support of the lever, and a member operably connected to the said means and lying in the path of the proj ecting portion and positively operated by it in the movement of the lever.

8. In a door locking mechanism the combination with an elevator-car and a door,

of a part extending perpendicular to the plane of the door and in the path of the same, and provided with a series of teeth, a segment-gear in engagement therewith, a member in control of the gear and movable parallel to the door, a part on the member projecting therefrom, and means on the elevator-car cooperating with said last-named part to control said member.

9. In a door locking mechanism the combination with an elevator-car and a door, of a part extending perpendicular to the plane of the door and in the path of the same, and provided with a series of teeth, a segmentgear in engagement therewith, a member in control of the gear and movable parallel to the door, a part projecting from the member and adjustable thereon, and means on the elevator-car cooperating with said lastnamed part to control said member.

10. In a door locking mechanism the combination with an elevator-car and a door, 01 a part extending perpendicularly to the plane of the door and in the path of the same, and provided with a series of teeth, a segment-gear in engagement therewith, a member in control of the gear and movable parallel to the door, a part on the member projecting therefrom, means to elastically hold the part in the said path of the door, and means on the elevator-car cooperating with said last-named part to control said member.

11. In a door locking mechanism the combination with an elevator-car and a door, of a part extending perpendicularly to the plane of the door and in the path of the same, and provided with a series of teeth, a segment-gear in engagement therewith, a member in control of the gear and movable parallel to the door, and a part on the member projecting therefrom and adjustable thereon, means to elastically hold the part in the said path of the door, and means on the elevator-car cooperating with said lastnamed part to control said member.

12. The combination of the starting device of an elevator-car including an extension having a fixed position thereon, a member mounted adjacent the said device and engaged and moved by said extension and elastically held in the path of the same, a bell-crank lever pivoted on the car and having one of its ends associated with said member, a second member carried on the car and adapted for lateral movement, a link connecting the same and the other end of the bell-crank-lever, and a vertically disposed bar secured on the said second named member having its ends inclined at an angle away from its main portion.

13. The combination of an elevator-car and its starting device including an extension, a member mounted adjacent the said device and movable relatively thereto and engaged by said extension, :1 bellcrank-leve-r pivoted on the car and having one of its ends pivotally associated with said member, a second member carried on the car and adapted for lateral movement, a link connecting the same and the other end of the bell-crank-lever, a vertically disposed bar secured on the member, and means to hold the first said member elastically in the path of the said extension of the starting device.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

SOLOMON M. MILLER.

\Vitnesses W. I. SLEMMoNs, L. M. TI-IURSTON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

